第27章
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  ThenewWalterPressdoesnotintheleastresembleanyexistingprintingmachine,unlessitbethecalenderingmachinewhichfurnisheditstype。Attheprintingenditlookslikeacollectionofsmallcylindersorrollers。Thefirstthingtobeobservedisthecontinuousrollofpaperfourmileslong,tightlymountedonareel,which,whenthemachineisgoing,fliesroundwithimmenserapidity。Thewebofpapertakenupbythefirstrollerisledintoaseriesofsmallhollowcylindersfilledwithwaterandsteam,perforatedwiththousandsofminuteholes。Bythismeansthepaperisproperlydampedbeforetheprocessofprintingisbegun。Therollofpaper,drawnbynippingrollers,nextfliesthroughtothecylinderonwhichthestereotypeplatesarefixed,soastoformthefourpagesoftheordinarysheetofTheTimes;thereitislightlypressedagainstthetypeandprinted;thenitpassesdownwardsroundanothercylindercoveredwithcloth,andreversed;nexttothesecondtype-coveredroller,whereittakestheimpressionexactlyontheothersideoftheremainingfourpages。Itnextreachesoneofthemostingeniouscontrivancesoftheinvention——thecuttingmachinery,bymeansofwhichthepaperisdividedbyaquickknifeintothe5500sheetsofwhichtheentirewebconsists。Thetapeshurrythenowcompletelyprintednewspaperupaninclinedplane,fromwhichthedividedsheetsareshowereddowninacontinuousstreambyanoscillatingframe,wheretheyaremetbytwoboys,whoadjustthesheetsastheyfall。Thereeloffourmileslongisprintedanddividedintonewspaperscompleteinabouttwenty-fiveminutes。

  Themachineisalmostentirelyself-acting,fromthepumping-upoftheinkintotheink-boxoutofthecisternbelowstairs,totheregisteringofthenumbersastheyareprintedinthemanager’sroomabove。Itisalwaysdifficulttodescribeamachineinwords。Nothingbutaseriesofsectionsanddiagramscouldgivethereaderanideaoftheconstructionofthisunrivalledinstrument。Thetimetoseeitandwonderatitiswhenthepressisinfullwork。Andeventhenyoucanseebutlittleofitsconstruction,forthecylindersarewheelingroundwithimmensevelocity。Therapiditywithwhichthemachineworksmaybeinferredfromthefactthattheprintingcylindersroundwhichthestereotypedplatesarefixed,whilemakingtheirimpressionsonthepaper,travelatthesurprisingspeedof200

  revolutionsaminute,orattherateofaboutninemilesanhour!

  Contrastthisspeedwiththeformerslowness。Gobacktothebeginningofthecentury。Beforetheyear1814theturn-outofnewspaperswasonlyabout300singleimpressionsinanhour——thatis,impressionsprintedononlyonesideofthepaper。Koenigbyhisinventionincreasedtheissueto1100impressions。ApplegathandCowperbytheirfour-cylindermachineincreasedtheissueto4000,andbytheeight-cylindermachineto10,000anhour。Butthesewereonlyimpressionsprintedononesideofthepaper。

  Thefirstperfectingpress——thatis,printingsimultaneouslythepaperonbothsides——wastheWalter,thespeedofwhichhasbeenraisedto12,000,though,ifnecessary,itcanproduceexcellentworkattherateof17,000completecopiesofaneight-pagepaperperhour。Then,withthenewmethodofstereotyping——bymeansofwhichtheplatescanbeinfinitelymultipliedandbytheaidofadditionalmachines,thesupplyofadditionalimpressionsisabsolutelyunlimited。

  TheWalterPressisnotamonopoly。ItismanufacturedatTheTimesoffice,andissuppliedtoallcomers。AmongtheotherdailypapersprintedbyitsmeansinthiscountryaretheDailyNews,theScotsmam,andtheBirminghamDailyPost。ThefirstWalterPresswassenttoAmericain1872,whereitwasemployedtoprinttheMissouriRepublicanatSt。Louis,theleadingnewspaperoftheMississippiValley。AnengineerandaskilledworkmanfromTheTimesofficeaccompaniedthemachinery。OnarrivingatSt。Louis——thematerialswereunpacked,loweredintothemachine-room,wheretheywereerectedandreadyforworkintheshortspaceoffivedays。

  TheWalterPresswasanobjectofgreatinterestattheCentennialExhibitionheldatPhiladelphiain1876,whereitwasshownprintingtheNewForkTimesoneofthemostinfluentialjournalsinAmerica。Thepresswassurroundedwithcrowdsofvisitorsintentlywatchingitsperfectandregularaction,“likeathingoflife。“TheNewYorkTimessaidofit:“TheWalterPressisthemostperfectprintingpressyetknowntoman;

  inventedbythemostpowerfuljournaloftheOldWorld,andadoptedastheverybestpresstobehadforitspurposesbythemostinfluentialjournaloftheNewWorld……ItisanhonourtoGreatBritaintohavesuchanexhibitinherdisplay,andalastingbenefittotheprintingbusiness,especiallytonewspapers……Thefirstprintingpressrunbysteamwaserectedintheyear1814intheofficeofTheTimesbythefatherofhimwhoisthepresentproprietorofthatworld-famousjournal。Themachineof1814wasdescribedinTheTimesofthe29thNovemberinthatyear,andtheaccountgivenofitclosedinthesewords:

  ’Thewholeofthesecomplicatedactsisperformedwithsuchavelocityandsimultaneonsnessofmovementthatnolessthan1100

  sheetsareimpressedinonehour。’Mirabiledictu!AndtheWalterPressofto-daycanrunoff17,000copiesanhourprintedonbothsides。Thisisnotbadworkforoneman’slifetime。“

  Itisunnecessarytosaymoreaboutthismarvellousmachine。Itscompletionformsthecrownoftheindustrywhichitrepresents,andoftheenterpriseofthejournalwhichitprints。

  FootnotesforChapterVII。

  [1]Diary,Reminiscences,andCorrespondenceofHenryCrabbRobinson,Barrister-at-Law,F。S。A。,i。231。

  AftertheappearanceofmyarticleontheKoenigandWalterPressesinMacmillan’sMagazineforDecember,1869,IreceivedthefollowingletterfromSirRowlandHill:-

  “Hampstead“January5th,1870。

  “Mydearsir,“InyourveryinterestingarticleinMacmillan’sMagazineonthesubjectoftheprintingmachine,youhaveunconsciouslydonemesomeinjustice。Toconvinceyourselfofthis,youhaveonlytoreadtheenclosedpaper。Thecase,however,willbestrengthenedwhenItellyouthatasfarbackastheyear1856,thatis,sevenyearsaftertheexpiryofmypatent,IpointedouttoMr。MowbrayMorris,themanagerofTheTimes,thefitnessofmymachinefortheprintingofthatjournal,andthefactthatseriousdifficultiestoitsadoptionhadbeenremoved。Ialso,athisrequest,furnishedhimwithacopyofthedocumentwithwhichI

  nowtroubleyou。Feelingsurethatyouwouldliketoknowthetruthonanysubjectofwhichyoumaytreat,Ishouldbegladtoexplainthemattermorefully,andforthispurposewill,withyourpermission,calluponyouatanytimeyoumaydomethefavourtoappoint。

  “Faithfullyyours,“RowlandHill。“

  OnfurtherenquiryIobtainedthePatentNo。6762;butfoundthatnothingpracticalhadevercomeofit。ThepamphletenclosedbySirRowlandHillintheaboveletterisentitled’TheRotaryPrintingMachine。’Itisverycleverandingenious,likeeverythinghedid。Butitwasstillleftforsomeoneelsetoworkouttheinventionintoapracticalworkingprinting-press。

  Thesubjectisfullyreferredtointhe’LifeofSirRowlandHill’i。224,525。Inhisfinalwordonthesubject,SirRowland“gladlyadmitstheenormousdifficultyofbringingacomplexmachineintopracticaluse,“adifficulty,hesays,which“hasbeenmostsuccessfullyovercomebythepatenteesoftheWalterPress。“

  “TheImagesofmen’switsandknowledgesremaininBooks,exemptedfromthewrongoftime,andcapableofperpetualrenovation。NeitheraretheyfitlytobecalledImages,becausetheygeneratestill,andcasttheirseedsinthemindsofothers,provokingandcausinginfiniteactionsandopinionsinsucceedingages;sothat,iftheinventionoftheShipwasthoughtsonoble,whichcarriethrichesandcommoditiesfromplacetoplace,andconsociateththemostremoteRegionsinparticipationoftheirFruits,howmuchmoreareletterstobemagnified,which,asShips,passthroughthevastSeasoftime,andmakeagessodistanttoparticipateofthewisdom,illuminations,andinventions,theoneoftheother?“——Bacon,OntheProficienceandAdvancementofLearning。

  Steamhasprovedasusefulandpotentintheprintingofbooksasintheprintingofnewspapers。Downtotheendoflastcentury,“thedivineart,“asprintingwascalled,hadmadecomparativelylittleprogress。Thatistosay,althoughbookscouldbebeautifullyprintedbyhandlabour,theycouldnotbeturnedoutinanylargenumbers。

  Theearlyprintingpresswasrude。Itconsistedofatable,alongwhichtheformeoftype,furnishedwithatympanandfrisket,waspushedbyhand。Theplatenworkedverticallybetweenstandards,andwasbroughtdownfortheimpression,andraisedafterit,byacommonscrew,workedbyabarhandle。Theinkingwasperformedbyballscoveredwithskinpelts;theywereblackedwithink,andbeatendownonthetypebythepressman。

  Theinkingwasconsequentlyirregular。

  In1798,EarlStanhopeperfectedthepressthatbearshisname。

  Hedidnotpatentit,butmadehisinventionovertothepublic。

  In1818,Mr。CowpergreatlyimprovedtheinkingofformesusedintheStanhopeandotherpresses,bytheuseofahandrollercoveredwithacompositionofglueandtreacle,incombinationwithadistributingtable。Theinkwasthusappliedinamoreevenmanner,andwithaconsiderabledecreaseoflabour。WiththeStanhopePress,printingwasasfaradvancedasitcouldpossiblybebymeansofhandlabour。About250impressionscouldbetakenoff,ononeside,inanhour。

  Butthis,afterall,wasaverysmallresult。Whenbookscouldbeproducedsoslowly,therecouldbenopopularliterature。

  Bookswerestillarticlesforthefew,insteadofforthemany。

  Steampower,however,completelyalteredthestateofaffairs。

  WhenKoeniginventedhissteampress,heshowedbytheprintingofClarkson’s’LifeofPenn’——thefirstsheetseverprintedwithacylindricalpress——thatbooksmightbeprintedneatly,aswellascheaply,bythenewmachine。Mr。Bensleycontinuedtheprocess,afterKoenigleftEngland;andin1824,accordingtoJohnsoninhis’Typographia,’hissonwas“drivinganextensivebusiness。“

  Inthefollowingyear,1825,ArchibaldConstable,ofEdinburgh,propoundedhisplanforrevolutionisingtheartofbookselling。

  Insteadofbooksbeingarticlesofluxury,heproposedtobringthemintogeneralconsumption。Hewouldsellthem,notbythousands,butbyhundredsofthousands,“ay,bymillions;“andhewouldaccomplishthisbythenewmethodsofmultiplication——bymachineprintingandbysteampower。Mr。Constableaccordinglyissuedalibraryofexcellentbooks;and,althoughhewasruined——notbythisenterprise,buttheotherspeculationsintowhichheentered——hesettheexamplewhichotherenterprisingmindswerereadytofollow。AmongstthesewasCharlesKnight,whosetthesteampressesofWilliamClowestowork,forthepurposesoftheSocietyfortheDiffusionofUsefulKnowledge。

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